You Can Decant
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These days you can’t scroll through TikTok or Instagram without stumbling across videos of people decanting—refilling dedicated containers with dry foods like rice, pasta, beans, and cereals, or liquids like oil and vinegar, or even laundry detergent.
Although the pouring, clicking, and snapping sounds in these videos are often appealing and satisfying on a sensory level (the videos rely heavily on ASMR psychology), you may have thought to yourself, why bother?
Decanting may seem like it’s too much trouble at first glance, but it can actually save you time and money, and once you’ve made it part of your organization system, it can help you STAY organized.
Some of the reasons you should consider decanting your kitchen, laundry, and/or bath products:
You can see how much you have and know when it’s time to restock.
Since you always know how much you have left of a certain product and how much room you’ve allocated for that item, you probably won’t overbuy, so you can avoid waste.
Decanting keeps food fresher than keeping it in a partially sealed box or bag.
A dedicated jar or container used for decanting often takes up less space because you are eliminating a lot of excess packaging.
And, maybe best of all: It sure looks pretty!
If you’re sold on including decanting as part of your organization routine, here are a few tips to consider:
Clip and save cooking directions. If you need the directions for something you’ve decanted, cut them from their original packaging and just slip the information into the canister you are using or tape it to the bottom. That way it will be at your fingertips when you need it.
Keep different size canisters handy. One size doesn’t always fit all of your needs.
Label them. You can keep your canisters label free—(it’s lovely to look at all the textures and colors through clear glass or plastic)—but if you want everyone in your household to find what they need, use some pretty labels to identify the contents of each. Talented Kitchen offers a variety of very attractive label options for almost every decanting need, and we provide custom labels for our Sort, Store and Style customers as well.
Use the same brand. Try to use the same brand/line so that the canisters will fit together more easily on your shelves and will look more aesthetically consistent. We love the OXO brand because they’re pretty and very well made, but there are lots of other good options out there as well.
Decant early and often. Well, at least decant as soon as you’ve gotten back from the store. Once you’ve established a system, maintaining it will be easy. It will require a little extra effort up front, but the benefits make those few extra minutes while you’re putting things away well worth your time.
Decanting may be daunting at first, but you definitely can decant, and you will ultimately love the results (and maybe even the process, too)!